UoM seeks partner for Pankhurst Project

The University of Manchester has issued an OJEU contract notice as it looks to kickstart design work on its “Pankhurst Project”.

A £700,000 contract is up for grabs to provide architectural-led multidisciplinary contract services for a facility with the working title of the Pankhurst Centre for Research in Health, Technology and Innovation. The centre’s overarching goal is to drive innovation in health, by strengthening the local science asset base.

It will add to the science-based assets within Corridor Manchester, although the contract notice stresses that the benefits will be felt by the whole of Greater Manchester, referencing the local model of devolution in health and social care.

The university said that the centre will be important in helping to unlock support from the government’s £2bn Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, which was launched in November 2016. The fund, overseen by UK Research & Innovation, will back projects in priority technologies.

Consultation is ongoing as to how it will take shape, although areas including robotics and Artifical Intelligence, industrial biotechnology and medical technologies seem likely to be strongly supported, being directly referenced at the industrial strategy’s launch.

Requests to participate are invited before 5 June, and five to eight parties will be invited to tender before 19 June. The contract will be awarded on 2 August.